Judicial Union Criticizes Hiring of Judges During Economic Crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hartford, CT, May 22, 2017 – The union representing state Judicial Branch and Criminal Justice employees today criticized the Malloy administration’s appointment of 13 Superior Court Judges – with an additional four to be nominated – in the middle of an economic crisis.

“The State and the Branch are spending money unwisely on essentially life time appointments for managerial level employees, while asking its lowest paid to give back – or face the unemployment line. It makes no sense and it sends the absolute wrong message to the workers we represent,” said AFSCME Local 749 President Charles DellaRocco.

DellaRocca is a State Supreme Court Police Officer. He stated his union’s opposition to the appointments in testimony provided to the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee hearing today. His testimony is attached to this press release.

Local 749, an affiliate of Council 4 AFSCME, represents more than 1,500 front-line employees in the Judicial Branch, Division of Criminal Justice and Office of Public Defender.

Another Local 749 member, Sotonye Otunba-Payne, also criticized the hiring of additional judges.

“Somebody needs to hit the pause button on executive-level hiring. Several hundred Judicial Branch employees were laid off last year. Many more will lose their jobs if we don’t agree to the concessions that the governor asked for in his budget,” said Otunba-Payne, a veteran court monitor and member of Council 4 AFSCME’s Executive Board.

Council 4, which represents 35,000 workers across Connecticut, including more than 15,000 state employees, is part of the union coalition engaged in discussions with the Malloy administration to find mutually agreeable solutions to Connecticut’s economic crisis.

“The optics here are not good,” said Council 4 Executive Director Sal Luciano.  “Our union members want to protect the vital services they provide to Connecticut citizens. That’s why we are making a good faith effort in our discussions with the administration. But it’s hard for front-line workers to maintain their morale when their livelihoods are threatened at the same time six-figure managerial employees are getting jobs.”

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Contact: Larry Dorman (860) 989-9127 or [email protected]